Western Orphan Trains

Bridget Collins is in dire straits - she needs to get out of New York, fast. With two young siblings under her wing, her options are limited. Her priest sends her as an outplacement agent on the orphan trains that run from New York to out west. With almost 40 orphans under her care, she's relieved that fellow and more experienced outplacement agent Carl Watson is there to guide her. But Carl is dealing with his own trauma and finds it difficult to handle the pain the orphans are dealing with.

Penobscot Indian Molly Ayer is close to "aging out" out of the foster care system. A community-service position helping an elderly woman clean out her home is the only thing keeping Molly out of juvie and worse.... As she helps Vivian sort through her possessions and memories, Molly learns that she and Vivian aren’t as different as they seem to be. A young Irish immigrant orphaned in New York City, Vivian was put on a train to the Midwest with hundreds of other children whose destinies would be determined by luck and chance.

Rosa Sullivan’s happy, privileged life is shattered when she learns that her parents are not her birth parents at all. With her life in turmoil, she’s left with two choices, marry for stability or venture into uncertainty. Fueled by grief and curiosity, she embarks on a journey to Colorado to search for the answers. There, she crosses paths with Daniel, a local man who harbors his own discontent and their connection feels oddly familiar… Will Rosa find the answers she seeks? Daniel Cooper has no reason to be miserable and yet he longs for more, something outside the boundaries of ...

Lily Chalmers wanted only two things from life: a farm of her own, and to find the sisters she hadn't seen since they were all little girls heading west on the orphan train. She certainly had no desire for a husband.

Nine-year-old Ethan Cooper has managed to keep his family together for a year in a Pennsylvania orphanage. Now he and his siblings are boarding a train headed west. He can’t help but worry: Mr. and Mrs. Rush in Nebraska have agreed to adopt all four Cooper children, but what if they change their minds?

Despite her unconventional upbringing - she'd been adopted off the orphan train by the local "madam" - Emma Chalmers was the most prim and proper young lady in all of Whitneyville. Why, she wouldn't even permit Fulton Whitney to kiss her, and they were practically engaged!

Holding her lovely head high, Wyoming schoolmistress Caroline Chalmers did what no lady should: She marched right into the local saloon to see the dashing and reckless Guthrie Hayes. Worse still, she went to ask him for help. She needed the former Confederate raider to plan a jailbreak to rescue her fiancé, Seaton Flynn, from the hangman's noose. An orphan by spinster sisters, Caroline was prepared do almost anything to save her beloved Seaton.

Become a bride or lose her children! Two sisters must risk everything to save five orphans from a fate they know too well. Merry and Polly Bird know firsthand the heartbreak of being unwanted or mistreated after arriving on an orphan train. Now adults, they’re determined to protect five quirky, lovable children from a similar fate. By using their positions to record adoptions, the sisters secretly rescue the children least likely to find loving homes and bring them to their Mockingbird boarding house. The children thrive under Merry and Polly’s care—until the Children’s Protection ...

Kelli is a 19-year-old orphan who lives and teaches at a New York orphanage. She is sent west on the Orphan Train to oversee the children. When the train reaches Kansas, the end of the line, and Kelli realizes that she must return to New York, she makes a desperate plea to a golden-bronzed cowboy, asking to fill the place of a mail order bride he advertised for to raise his little girl.

As a widow who never had children of her own, Hester Haak never imagined she'd open her home in Kansas to not just one but three kids from the bustling streets of New York. But when the Children's Aid Society unexpectedly allows her to take two sisters and a young boy her care, she rises to the challenge. Hester is determined to provide a safe, loving home for these children, even as the shadow of them potentially leaving looms over her.

Sinead - who is both resilient and vulnerable, insightful and insecure - spends her days supporting her ailing mother and appeasing Emerson, the man who owns her house and the diner where she works. She wants nothing more than to leave the town her own dark history is bound up in, but Emerson asserts his power over her, thwarting her progress at every turn. One day, Tobias, a mysterious rambler from the east coast, walks into the diner, and Sinead makes the impulsive decision to invite him into her life and home.

Kenny Clark knows Santa is magical and only he can find his family. Kathleen Collins fights poverty and desperation every day in her bid to find new homes for the orphans of New York. But what about her happily ever after?

Colten Francis is a man on the run with his former comrades hot on his trail. Seeking safety, he joins a wagon train headed through a mountain pass into Wyoming. As a passive man unsuited to the soldier's life, Colten yearns for peace, but trouble seems to follow him wherever he goes. Sometimes though peace is not an option... Agatha, traveling with her young son Jacob, is also fleeing from a dark past. She holds a secret that could bring the notorious Dupont Gang down upon them all. When Colten joins the wagon train, their paths cross, and Agatha is faced with a new challenge. Will she be ...

Noah Carter returns from the Civil War with nothing but scars, a revolver, and the ghost of a life he can never reclaim. His hometown lies in ashes, his parents are gone, and the only option he has is to become a hired gun. But when a fierce gang destroys Colorado City and nearly kills him, Noah realizes some battles follow you no matter how far you run… Wendy Longstreet never imagined she’d be responsible for what remains of her community. With Purgatory burned and her parents murdered, their only hope lies in driving two thousand longhorns to Denver. When Noah crosses their path, ...

John Ryan, a soldier without a home, clings to loyalty and a locket—the only link to his unknown past. When an ambush leaves his militia shattered and his friend wounded, John defies duty and becomes a deserter. With the law on his heels, he escapes to Vanguard, a frontier town where trails end and secrets lie waiting… John’s search for peace takes a turn when he meets May, a Native woman sold into slavery. After freeing her, he learns she carries dangerous secrets, and their bond is tested by shadows from her past and his relentless pursuers. As winter approaches and threats close in...

Between 1854 and 1930, more than 200,000 orphaned or abandoned children were sent west on orphan trains to find new homes. Some were adopted by loving families; others were not as fortunate. In recent years, some of the riders have begun to share their stories. Andrea Warren alternates chapters about the history of the orphan trains with the story of Lee Nailling, who in 1926 rode an orphan train to Texas.

When a Texas tornado hits Jake Jones’ ranch, he loses everything. Orphaned and stripped of his home, wealth and social status, he has no other choice but to take matters into his own hands. With only a couple of ranch hands and a thousand cattle left, he must lead them to the nearest market. With all his money now gone, Jake cannot take the train car, but has to do it the hard, old-fashioned way… Preparing for the most grueling cattle drive of his life, will he rise to meet the challenge? Annie Rose Parker has lost her husband in the storm. An Irish immigrant, she is neither here nor ...

Kathleen Green longs for a child of her own. Her work with the orphan trains only serve to heighten her need. When tragedy strikes, will she get the child she always wanted? Will the cost be worth it?

Book 7 in the Orphan Train series takes listeners on a journey to Ireland, where Lily and Charlie find themselves on an adventure. Meanwhile, back at the Sanctuary in New York, Kathleen is left in charge and is facing a host of problems. With the new factory opening soon, the Chivers children searching for a permanent home, and a couple of stray orphans in need of her care, Kathleen feels like she's in over her head. As she tries to navigate these challenges, she finds herself wishing Lily would come home soon. Charlie surprised Lily with tickets for the Titanic's maiden voyage.

Left orphaned by murderous marauders, one pioneer girl fights to survive on the brutal frontier. Young Emma Peterson never expected her tranquil life on a Missouri farm to be shattered into a thousand pieces. But this determined sixteen-year-old refuses to give in. Packing only what she needs to survive, she heads for St. Jo to finagle her way aboard a west-bound wagon train. Ruthless men and merciless nature threaten every step, and Emma leans into her own quick wits to stay alive. But the price of revenge turns hefty when she crosses paths with the same killers who robbed her of ...